RWBY: Dragons of Gold and Red
by jamesmaxis22
Summary: She only remembered bits of that night, being woken with urgency by her uncle, a burning palace, the screams of her parents from the throne room as her uncle sped her to safety. For Ruby Rose, the decade since that night had been a decade of training, constantly, to save her sister from the clutches of the Tyrant Dong Zhou. A RWBY loose adaptation of Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
1. Prologue

She only remembered bits of that night, being woken with urgency by her uncle, a burning palace, the screams of her parents from the throne room as her uncle sped her to safety. For Ruby Rose, the decade since that night had been a decade of training, constantly, to save her sister from the clutches of the Tyrant Dong Zhou, who had declared himself 'Regent' of the Xiao Long Dynasty. Her uncle had kept her in hiding with a good friend of the Royal Family, Liu Bei was her distant cousin, and had been hiding her deep in the forests of the Shandong province during her training.

After she finished changing from her pajamas into her normal outfit, she sighed and rubbed the tiredness from her eyes, taking her scythe and strapping it to her back, placing her sword in it's sheath at her side as well. She left her small hut and headed towards Liu Bei's cabin, her guardian was already outside, practicing his fighting skills on a wooden training dummy.

"Morning Liu." She said, seeming cheerful despite her just waking up. Liu glanced back from the dummy and smiled at her.

"Morning Princess." He said, teasing her, knowing full well how much she hated the title. When Ruby shot him a look of disgust, he merely grinned and muttered a half-hearted apology. "We actually won't be doing any training today, I have to go get supplies from the market in Donglai, and I'd like you to come with me."

Ruby's eyes lit up at the prospect of visiting the city, as she didn't receive many opportunities to leave their hideout, as the Tyrant's spies were everywhere. "Really? Finally." She said excitedly, walking over to retrieve both their horses. Liu followed her and they both mounted their steeds, heading down the path off the mountain, and towards the rich port city of Donglai.

* * *

Weiss Schnee was always a bit of a spoiled sheltered brat, not that it was entirely her fault, being the heiress of the richest family in China was bound to do that to anyone. Whenever she entered the market district of Donglai, every merchant their begged for her patronage, knowing she could afford to purchase every stand in the market and then some. But it wasn't really the market itself that interested her today, but rather the meeting her father had planned. He had decided to drag her along, without explaining the reason why, but she knew better than to argue with her father, so she merely kept to herself, silent as she walked by his side.

Jacques Schnee was a hard man, but to have built himself up from nothing, it was certain to make anyone into a shrewd plotter. Today would be an important day in the history of the Chinese Empire, and he was certain that beyond his money, and beyond his family name, he would at least be remembered for this, the restoration of a Dynasty. He almost couldn't keep himself from grinning as he saw the man he had been looking for.

Leaning up against the wall of one of the market buildings, was a tall skinny man with jet black hair, a scythe on his back, keeping to himself, and flipping a coin around as he waited, Jacques approached, and greeted him. "Qrow."

Qrow Branwen looked up, taking his focus off the coin as he caught it from the air. "Jacques." He said, keeping his neutral expression. "Sun Jian and Ghira Belladonna should be here soon, we'll have to wait for them."

Jacques had to keep himself from rolling his eyes, thinking better of it. "I'm the richest man in China, I'm certain I could hire enough men to do this job, instead of relying on a bunch of blood crazed assassin's and gangsters." He thought to himself, but kept silent instead of speaking his thoughts aloud.

Weiss listened to this man and her father speak with great interest. "The Belladonnas?" She questioned quietly to herself, she had heard her sister Winter speak of them before, famous for their stealth, and even more infamous for their many contracts killing several Chinese nobles and other targets. She shuddered in fear subconsciously as she thought of meeting whatever horrible creature could slit people's throats in their sleep like that, especially when it was commonly people like herself.

* * *

Yang Xiao Long had been a fiery child, filled with a mix of rage and passion, she was doted on by her father, but mostly ignored by her mother, something that only managed to exacerbate her rage. But that was then, and now she was a shell of her former self, under the Tyrant's constant abuse, she was merely a puppet Empress to rubber stamp and 'legalize' his brutal regime. She could barely find a reason to get out of bed anymore, most mornings her servants had to quite literally pull her from her bed, and dress her as if she was a corpse. This morning she decided to spare them the effort for once, getting out of bed herself and dressing in her royal regalia, placing her crown on her head and waiting for the Tyrant to come into her bedroom, likely wanting her to meet with his cronies, or sign and rubber stamp another of his decrees. It didn't take long for her premonition to become reality.

Dong Zhuo opened the door without knocking, strolling in like it was nothing, ignorant of the horrid disrespect he was showing the Monarch of China. "Good morning." He said in a sarcastic tone, waiting for her to bow before him. Yang stood up and shuffled forward a bit, before getting on her knees.

"Good Morning, glorious regent." She said in such a neutral way that it could almost be called robotic, if the people of this time period knew about robots. Dong Zhuo stepped forward and punched her in the stomach as hard as he could. "That's for all the shit I received from your father during his reign." Yang flinched and doubled over as he hit her, it was nothing she wasn't used to by this point, she merely stayed silent and waited for his next move.

"Get your stamp and pen." He said, calmly, holding out a piece of paper, Yang barely even bothered to read it before she signed her royal monogram on the paper, and stamped the symbol of her Dynasty next to it.

"Very good pet, now, we have a meeting in the throne room shortly, don't be late." He said with a grin, before exiting her bedroom in the same disrespectful manner by which he had entered.

Yang took a deep breath and sighed. "Just another day." She whispered to herself, silently cursing Dong Zhuo.

* * *

Blake Belladonna moved silently along the rooftops, keeping pace with her father Ghira Belladonna, and her 'uncle' Sun Jian, down on the road, she was to be there lookout as they made there way to the market of the city of Donglai, apparently the Schnees were hosting an important meeting, and rather than assassinating a distant family member of theirs, the Belladonnas were to play nice with the Schnees for once, the thought disgusted Blake, playing nice with the richest family in China, trading kindnesses with the people who borderline enslaved the peasants of China, abusing them for their own advancement while they sat in their palaces dining on great food and fine wine. Blake had found great satisfaction in ending their lives when she received Schnee family members as targets. But for now, she sat back and kept quiet, her father's judgement hadn't failed them before, and she prayed it wouldn't fail them now.

Ghira Belladonna was a jovial man, kind to the peasantry and very friendly to any and all that he met, of course, very few of those people knew that at night, he snuck into the houses of his targets, and murdered them in their sleep. He had been conversing with his 'brother' Sun Jian quietly as they made their way through the crowds, normally he would be focused on keeping an eye out for any threats, but he knew his daughter was watching them from above, and that they were safe in her capable hands.

Sun Jian could've spotted any Schnee from a mile away, their snow white hair was hard to miss, it seems that Jacques brought his daughter, Sun Jian laughed internally, he had certainly brought her just in case he and the Belladonnas decided to try and murder him, as if having his little girl there would make them show mercy to either of them. But, for once, no matter how much he wanted to, he has promised Qrow that this meeting would be kept peaceful, for the future of the Xiao Long Dynasty.

Ghira took the lead as they approached "Qrow, it is nice to see you again." He said, shaking the raven-haired man's hand, he turned to Jacques and gave him a neutral look. "Schnee." He said starkly, Jacques merely scoffed and ignored his disrespect. Blake decided to jump down between them all at that moment, scaring both the Schnees, she glared daggers at Jacques before glancing at Weiss, giving her a small smile, one that hid the implication of 'I could totally murder you.'

Qrow's grin was unmistakable, but he quickly switched back to a serious face as he began speaking. "China is in turmoil, my sister has been missing for 15 years, my brother-in-law is dead, and his second wife hasn't been seen since the torching of the old Imperial Capital, my niece has been held by the Tyrant ever since, and the Xiao Long Dynasty has been lead to ruin by Dong Zhuo." Jacques, Ghira and Sun Jian nodded in agreement, something had to be done about Dong Zhuo. Qrow continued "With my expertise as the former head Imperial General, and with the stealth and skill of the Xi'an assassins, and the financial backing of the Schnees, the Council to Restore the Xiao Long Dynasty is born, here today."

* * *

**Author's note: So, for those who have no idea where this setting and some of these characters come from, this is basically a RWBY adaptation of the ancient Chinese Novel and Historical Period Romance of the Three Kingdoms, more will be explained as we go. Ages are the same as they are in RWBY canon at the start of the series. I hope you all enjoy this and are along for the ride! I'm really trying to gauge if this idea will have any interest in it at all, so please leave your likes, favorites and reviews to let me know I should make some more chapters!**


	2. The Fall of Luoyang (Qrow) (Flashback)

Luoyang was once a beautiful city, teeming with life, people coming and going from the great Imperial Capital. That was 10 years ago, shortly before Dong Zhuo's attack, and it is there that we begin this chapter.

Qrow was not a fan of the machinations of the Imperial court, and tried to stay away from the political intrigue as much as possible, preferring to keep to his job as the Head of the Imperial Army. Yet, nonetheless, it was required of him to attend the Emperor's weekly council meetings, to discuss the State of the Empire with his advisors.

The Imperial Palace itself was huge, a monument to Chinese Architecture, it was only through the luck of his father arranging the marriage of his sister Raven, to the reigning Emperor Taiyang, that Qrow was in a position like this at all, it had been pure luck that he hadn't been stuck in the backwater frontier provinces for the rest of his life, like his father. As Qrow approached, the Imperial Guard gave a salute, and opened the gate for him, Qrow headed down the hallways of the Palace before reaching the council chamber, where his Brother-in-Law and his second wife, Summer Rose, were waiting with some of the other council members, including Dong Zhuo, Governor of the Frontier Provinces, Cao Cao, Minister of Finance, Yuan Shao, Lieutenant of the Imperial Armies (effectively Qrow's second-in-command), Qrow sat at his position on the right of the Emperor, opposite the Empress Consort.

Emperor Taiyang smiled as Qrow took his seat. "And finally, we can begin." The Emperor stated, as the other advisors took their seats after having waited for Qrow to arrive. Taiyang motioned to Dong Zhuo "I believe you had business you wished to discuss Governor." He said with the best polite smile he could muster, Dong Zhuo was good at his job, but he was a very large and ugly man, and rude besides, not exactly the company the Imperial Court wanted around, but Taiyang stomached him anyway.

Dong Zhuo frowned, as if he could hear Taiyang's thoughts of him, but he said nothing to indicate the fact, instead beginning with his plea. "Your Majesty, the frontier provinces are quite dangerous places, as I'm sure you well know, and I am running out of troops and resources trying to hold them in your name." He went to continue before Qrow quickly interrupted him.

"Let me guess, you want me to divert even more of the Imperial Army to your control so you can go fight bandits on the border, and waste even more of the peasants taxes on these 'bandits' you complain about so often." Qrow said with a smirk. "Am I right? I think at this point you might have more Imperial Army units than I do anymore."

Dong Zhuo let out a guttural growl "And you'd be wise to remember that, bird." He said, trying to insult Qrow, who merely shrugged in response. "One day you'll regret such slights." He said before sitting down again, giving up on his plea.

Next up was the Minister of Finance, a more handsome man then Dong Zhuo, Cao Cao was well liked, if shrewd, and was, like the rest of the advisors, very good at his job. "Funding the war on the frontier has been costly, yes, but keeping Salem and the Mongolians at bay has been a very pressing matter." Cao Cao said, Dong Zhuo nodding to agree with him.

Taiyang seemed lost in thought for a moment before sighing in defeat, leaning over to Qrow. "Please see to it that Dong Zhuo has the troops he asks for, after all it is he who holds back Salem and her hordes." Qrow rolled his eyes, but Taiyang knew he would comply with his order.

Qrow motioned to Yuan Shao. "I want the 13th and 7th divisions transferred to Dong Zhuo's command when he leaves the city tonight." Yuan Shao nodded, but Dong Zhuo did not seem pleased.

"That's it? I'm the one protecting China, and you see to it that almost all of **MY **army is kept here? For what? To protect a bunch of ungrateful peasants it seems!" Dong Zhuo stood, and laid his hand on his sword.

Qrow quickly stood and reached for his scythe. "Careful fat man, you stand in the presence of your Emperor!"

Taiyang tried to stop things from escalating. "How about we hold a council again tomorrow and we can discuss this further, please, there is no need for violence." He pleaded, while managing to keep his composure.

Dong Zhuo calmed a bit and stayed silent for a moment, before shaking his head and walking out. Qrow returned his scythe to his back and shook his head. "You should not put up with his disrespect, Your Majesty."

Summer Rose finally piped up. "I agree with Qrow, Taiyang, Dong Zhuo's disrespect seems to grow with every meeting, and your inability to punish him seems to only make him bolder." She says, taking her husband's hand.

Taiyang nodded. "I know, I know, but I don't want to be like my father… using violence to scare the people into submission."

Qrow sympathized with his brother-in-law. "The burden of rule has fallen to you my friend, as it will fall to your daughter after you, my niece, but as noble as kindness is, sometimes it is better to be feared than loved."

Summer shook her head. "It would be best to be both." After that, they all took their leave, with Summer and Taiyang returning to the Imperial Quarters, and Qrow heading to the palace balcony to get drunk.

* * *

It was a few hours after that, deep into the night, when screams woke Qrow from his drunken stupor. He blinked the world back into focus, only to see the Imperial City burning. He shot straight up, his only thought was to save his nieces, he made his way through the palace, catching sight of several Imperial Guards battling with Dong Zhuo's frontier troops. A bunch of traitorous dogs to betray their Emperor in such a way.

One of the frontier troops decided to test his luck with the Head of the Imperial Army, charging straight at Qrow, and as if it was nothing to him, Qrow pulled his scythe from his back and cut through the man's waist, cleaving him right in half. As two more frontier troops cut down an Imperial Guard, they advanced at Qrow as well, ignorant of their comrade who had fallen moments before. Qrow almost laughed, worthier foes had failed to strike him down, and with that thought, he spun himself around, slicing the head off one before cutting downwards, taking the hands off another, before jamming the scythe blade into his chest, ending his life.

Qrow continued his quick sprint, down the stairs to the first floor of the palace, and back through the hallways to the Imperial chambers, passed them and into the Crown Princess's chambers, he kicked open the door, only to find his niece's bed empty. With an angry grunt, he continued on to the next room over, kicking the door open to reveal his other niece, Ruby, cowering under her bed.

He approached her slowly, she was likely already traumatized enough. He held his hand out slowly. "Come on, let's get you out of here kid." He said quietly, and with that she crawled out from under the bed before running over and throwing herself into his arms, sobbing and muttering something unintelligible as her 5 year old mind struggled to understand what was going on.

Qrow heard screams of pain behind him, one of them was almost certainly Taiyang's, and moments later more of Dong Zhuo's troops burst through into the room. "Get him!" they shouted, as three of the men advanced on Qrow. He grabbed one of his smoke pellets and tossed it on the ground, covering his escape as he sprinted out the door, Ruby cradled in his arms.

* * *

Qrow had made it to the stables and taken his horse, riding out of the Imperial City until they made it to a hill about half a mile away. He stopped and dismounted, taking a moment to observe Dong Zhuo's bloodthirsty destruction. The city would be in utter ruins after this, and Dong Zhuo would likely abandon it, mostly likely with his niece, Yang, now the Empress, in tow. All this so that his puppet Empress would provide his frontier troops…

No, it was more than that, Dong Zhuo had always been a prideful man, maybe he had just been looking for an excuse to finally seize the Empire for his own. For right now, none of it mattered though, Qrow thought as he lightly ran his fingers through Ruby's hair. She was asleep now, he hoped she would forget as much of this night as possible, to spare her the pain.

And with that, Qrow set out for the province of Shandong, hopefully to find a safe place for Ruby.

Because as soon as she was safe, Qrow had revenge to plan.


	3. The Puppet Empress (Yang)

The Imperial Court at Xi'an was full of Dong Zhuo's sycophants, men who did nothing but feed his own lust and obsession with power. Most of them didn't even pay her mind anymore, not even as a courtesy. Part of her was almost happy they ignored her, it left her to her own thoughts, where she could escape into fantasies where her mother was still around, and she and Ruby would play in Luoyang's peach gardens.

It was the former Finance Minister Cao Cao that arose her from her daydreaming. "Empress Yang." He said with a smile, it seemed genuine enough to most people, but Yang was suspicious of almost anyone now, so she merely shrugged.

"Minister Cao Cao, come to suck up to my Regent like the rest of them?" She asked with bluntly, taking Cao Cao off guard a little bit.

Cao Cao shook his head. "No Your Majesty, though I know Dong Zhuo well, it is not he who I have come to see." He said, walking forward and taking a seat in front of her.

Yang decided to follow courtesy, and stood up, closing the distance between them and holding her hand out for him to kiss her Imperial Ring. After he did so, she returned to her throne.

"And what is it exactly, that has drawn you to come see me?" She asks, as she felt a small tickle of curiosity, something she didn't receive often anymore.

Cao Cao reached into his coat, and passed her a small paper, adorned with the monogram of the Schnee family. "Jacques Schnee has invited you to a party in Donglai, it is a week from today, on the anniversary of your Dynasty's ascension to power."

This sparked Yang's emotions for the first time in a long time. A trip to Donglai? Far to the east, away from the frontier Capital that Dong Zhuo had drug her to so long ago. But would he let her go? If he did, it would likely not be unaccompanied.

"My glorious Regent would likely be accompanying me." She said quietly, knowing Dong Zhuo was likely nearby.

Cao Cao nodded. "More than likely, yes, but parties offer a lot of opportunities to mingle, and sometimes, to even disappear." He said, with a smirk, before standing and bowing before her. "Your Majesty." He said one final time, before exiting. Leaving her alone in the throne room.

It didn't take long for Dong Zhuo to come visit her, as he did at least once a day. "Your Majesty." He muttered, bowing in a sarcastic fashion.

Yang nodded in reply. "My Regent." She said, standing and bowing. The Empress or Emperor bowing to anyone would've been unacceptable during the reign of her father, but he was dead, and those days were long gone.

"Come with me." He said, motioning her forward with his hand. She came forward and walked alongside him as he lead her out of the palace, and into the palace gardens. Even in her neutral state, devoid of most emotions, Yang still found the gardens peaceful and beautiful. They put a small smile on her face, before it quickly disappeared as Dong Zhuo went on with whatever point he'd been speaking of.

"...And that's why I've signed the Land Revocation act into law." He looked over at her and frowned as he realized she hadn't been listening. "Am I boring you Your Majesty?"

She quickly shook her head in fear. "O-Of course I'm listening." She said quickly, hoping to avoid his wrath.

Dong Zhuo narrowed his eyes in suspicion before shaking his head. "That attitude is what got your father killed." He said, acting as if it wasn't he who had killed him. "Not listening to me almost lead to the downfall of your Dynasty.

Yang sighed and nodded. "Of course, my father was a traitor to his people and his nation." She said, it was a statement branded into her brain by this point. She decided to take a chance and bring something up. "Minister Cao Cao stopped by earlier."

"Oh did he now?" Dong Zhuo said, acting as though he didn't already know. "And what did my old friend have to discuss with the likes of you that he didn't feel he could discuss with me?"

Yang pulled out the paper from earlier. "The Schnees have invited me to a celebration of my Dynasty in Donglai." She explained, Dong Zhuo quickly took the paper from her grasp and let out a scoff.

"Damn Schnees have insulted me almost as long as your father did." He said, quickly ripping up the paper as he saw their family's insignia. He continued. "But I suppose it has been a long time since the nation has had a good celebration." He throws the remnants of the paper to the wind.

"So… I may go?" Yang asked, trying to keep herself from sounding too hopeful, lest he rip the opportunity from her out of mere spite.

Dong Zhuo nodded. "Yes, you may go."

Yang had to keep herself from cheering, but then of course came the words she had been dreading.

"Of course, I'll be going with you."

* * *

Yang sat in her chambers, later in the night, she had been reading a book by candlelight, one of the few freedoms she could still enjoy. She sighed and stared up at the ceiling, holding her hand up and making different shapes to cast shadows on the wall, trying to entertain herself in her isolation.

She reached under her bed and pulled out a small bracelet, one of the few pieces of jewelry she'd been able to hide all this time, it was a golden dragon with red jewels for eyes, the head wrapping around her wrist and swallowing it's own tail in it's maw. She ran her fingers across the metal lightly, smiling as she thought of when her step-mother, Summer Rose, had given her the bracelet, and she thought of her sister Ruby, who had a matching one, colored red with golden eyes.

'Her two dragons.' Summer had called the two of them, she loved her more than her real mother ever had. But Yang would take anyone she could now, her isolation was driving her insane.

She just hoped wherever Ruby was, she was safe.

And Yang was certain that Ruby was coming to get her.

That thought made her smile.

* * *

**Author's Note: This chapter didn't really turn out how I'd hoped it would. It still gets across the message and plot I intended, but I had been hoping to make it longer, but Yang's status as captured in a city where she is mostly ignored results in a pretty hard situation to write. Regardless, the other character's individual intro chapters: Ruby, Weiss and Blake, as well as Yang's second pov chapter, should be much longer.**

**Thanks for reading!**


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